Patriots' Brady right where he needs to be

Quarterback Tom Brady makes a triumphant return home, directing his team to a 35-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Glen Farley The Enterprise @GFarley_ent

FOXBORO – Tom Brady says 17 years in the NFL have taught him how to keep his emotions in check.

“I think I know how to get to that place where I need to be,” Brady said late Sunday afternoon. “You only have so much energy and at some point you’ve got to cut it loose when the moment’s right.”

The vast majority of the 66,829 fans who’d turned out at Gillette Stadium earlier in the day would agree that Brady was precisely where he needed to be on Sunday.

Tommy came marching home.

Making a triumphant return to Foxboro, Brady’s near-perfect performance in the second half led the Patriots to a 35-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in his first regular-season game of the year on Route 1.

Seven days after he made good on his return from the four-game suspension he was assessed by the league in the wake of Deflategate with a performance in Cleveland that earned him AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors, Brady was spot-on once again as he completed 29-of-35 passes for 376 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.

“It was great, you know,” wide receiver Julian Edelman said. “We had him back last week and it was good to get him home. It was an electric environment out there with Tom back. It was good.”

The day wasn’t without its struggles, however.

In fact, the Foxboro faithful resorted to Bronx cheers in the second quarter as the offense worked to get untracked while trailing in the game, 7-3.

“We played a lot better during the second half,” Brady acknowledged. “I thought our execution was a lot better. It took us a little bit of time to figure out how to kind of get our guys open, and once we did that it was good. We got the ball to a bunch of different guys in space (seven players had receptions) and made a bunch of guys miss. The running game was effective when we did it, so it was a good team win.”

While a key defensive play – the Patriots’ second safety in as many weeks induced by linebacker Dont’a Hightower – got the team on track, leading to 15 unanswered points in a matter of 4:07 to turn a 14-10 third-quarter deficit into a 25-14 lead they carried into the fourth, it was Brady who kept the train rolling.

After going 12 for 16 for 136 yards with one touchdown in the first half, Brady went 17 for 19 for 240 yards with two TDs in the second as he directed scoring drives measuring 68, 53, 62 and 50 yards.

Two weeks into his comeback, Brady’s completed 76 percent of the passes he’s thrown (57 for 75) for 782 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions, amassing a QB rating of 135.5 in the process.

Still, Brady believes there is more to be had.

“I could do some things better out there and offensively we can, too,” said Brady, “but it’s good to be 5-1. I think we’re in a decent place so we’ve just got to keep stringing these games together.

“There’s a ton of football left. It’s a good defense we played today and they made it challenging on us, but we’re trying to figure out what we’re made of and it’s good to get going there in the second half.”